dians
and many more died trying to reach places of safety. This was followed
by night attacks in different places, when sentinels were surprised and
murdered by Indians and Tories. Indeed, all through the war, the most
cruel enemies the patriots had were their Tory neighbors.

To guard against such attacks, and to be ready to meet the British at
any point, Washington distributed his troops in a long line of camps and
got ready to defend the country from Boston to Philadelphia. The Hudson
River was guarded by a fortress at West Point. In order to call the
militia out, he arranged a system of signals. On a high hill overlooking
the British camp, sentries kept constant watch. If the enemy moved,
warning was to be given by firing a big gun. When the gun boomed, fires
were to be lighted on the hills within hearing. As soon as these were
seen from more distant hills, other fires were to be lighted, until
every hilltop blazed and all the countryside was roused and men warned
to hurry to their rallying places.

Though General Clinton had a great army, he did not offer battle. He
carried on an annoying form of warfare by sending out small bodies of
men to distant places, to attack and destroy. In this way he plundered
and burned villages on the shores of the Chesapeake and in New England
and captured valuable stores.

[Illustration: "Mad Anthony" Wayne]

While these things were happening, Washington planned to recapture the
fort at Stony Point on the Hudson, which had been taken by Sir Henry
Clinton, May 31, 1779. His plan was entrusted to General Wayne, called
"Mad Anthony" Wayne because of his dashing bravery. Wayne took a small
body of light-armed, fearless men, marched through the mountains and at
midnight on July 16, stormed the fort and captured it. This feat was so
well done that it is considered one of the great events of the war.
Congress thanked Washington for the victory and gave Wayne a medal for
his courage and success.

The swift and daring young scout, "Light Horse Harry" Lee, was with this
expedition. After it was over, he asked permission to lead an attack on
the garrison of Paulus Hook (now Jersey City), right under the guns of
New York. Washington, who always admired courageous deeds, allowed him
to make the attempt. Lee surprised the fort at night, captured a number
of prisoners and made a successful retreat while the guns from the
battleships were sounding the alarm. These two daring attacks increased